During tonight's 2014 Emmy broadcast, Billy Crystal took on the insurmountable task of eulogizing his friend, the late Robin Williams.

"He made us laugh, hard," Billy began. "Every time you saw him — on television, movies, nightclubs, arenas, hospitals, homeless shelters, for our troops overseas, or even in a dying girl's living room, for her last wish."

The frequent awards show host continued to share amusing anecdotes from their friendship of more than 30 years. "[His] brilliance was astounding, the relentless energy was kind of thrilling. I used to think if I could just put a saddle on him and stay on for eight seconds I was gonna do OK."

Before a reel of just a small number of Robin's television appearances over the years, Billy fought back tears while delivering a beautiful farewell.

"As genius as he was on stage, he was the greatest friend you could ever imagine: supportive, protective, loving. It's very hard to talk about him in the past, because he was so present in all of our lives. For almost 40 years he was the brightest star in the comedy galaxy. But while some of the brightest of our celestial bodies are actually extinct now, their energy long since cooled. But miraculously, because they float in the heavens so far away from us now, their beautiful light will continue to shine on us forever, and the glow will be so bright it'll warm your heart, it'll make your eyes glisten, and you'll think to yourselves, 'Robin Williams... what a concept.'"